Paul Shaffer talks Andy Kaufman, plays Stump the Bandleader and more on the special first anniversary episode of The Letterman Podcast

ready you're watching The Lettermen podcast with Mike chisen endorsed by the hello Deli yeah hello Mike this is Steve Young first of all I want to thank you for inviting me to be part of these festivities truly great honor so I want to wish you a very happy welcome to the Lettermen podcast this is our anniversary episode in the title you now know who it is and uh well I'm sorry you're gonna have to suffer through a bit of an introduction before we get to Paul uh very very excited it has been very difficult for me to keep this a secret having Paul on the show uh we wanted to do it for the anniversary and uh uh 4 20.

420 is the anniversary of the Lettermen podcast uh I know what many of you are thinking oh you're from British Columbia BC Bud 420 has been like your anthem for your whole life um not me personally I didn't even insert indulging in that kind of stuff until I was like 38 years old but yes BC where I'm from uh is is is very very much uh um a Center Point um a hub for the 420 movement but that is not what 420 is for me 420 is the anniversary of the Lettermen podcast purposely started on that day because there there it is there's the ticket right there uh for my night the night that kind of changed my life um the night at the Ed Sullivan Theater um April 20th 2015 one month before Dave retired exactly one month to the day um the day that uh it just it seems to be the fact that I thought that that day you know it's funny life's perspective I thought that day was going to be um kind of an ending point a swan song you know Dave's retiring in a month I went after New York uh my wife and I went to Jamaica watched her came home watched everything on the on the on the DVR and and like everybody else um watched those last days of Letterman and and it was uh I thought it was a goodbye I thought my moment with Dave uh and the show um and all of the cool things that have come you know around that at that time um I thought that that was the universe saying okay there you go you get to say goodbye to something that um you you cared for and cared for so deeply and from inside it turns out uh that day actually kicked off something that would eventually lead to this show to the Lettermen podcast I cannot tell you how many um how grateful we are for all of the uh the love that we've gotten there's been some public love that we've thrown out there with rogalski and Jeremy Weiner and Don Giller sent a happy anniversary message Scott um Steve Young amazing and and there's a few others that are coming actually uh but uh um the stuff in behind the scenes and and this is from folks who worked for the show uh I just thank you so much for the love that that we've gotten and also of course from um the the viewership and listenership that's that's growing um thank you so much for for enjoying what I enjoy and helping to create this community uh now let's uh do a little bit of housekeeping we are still finishing up the contest for The Late Show rejection postcard I'm giving a few of these away brand new ones um uh and uh you gotta just join the Facebook group The Lettermen podcast Facebook group find the contest post like it you get your name in the uh in the draw for one of these things uh leave a comment preferably a positive one you get your name in the draw again share it once again you get your name in the draw so you can have your name in the draw like up to three times and if you have multiple Facebook accounts I'm not monitoring for that because I'm just not smart enough um today's guest I purposefully did not do an introduction with Paul on here I had him for a limited amount of time and I did not want to spend it doing what I'm doing right now uh plus you'll find at the end of the show where I tried to give him some accolades and how special he is to me um you know he tolerated me for a good 30 seconds of it but then he had to you know just he's on brand he doesn't take compliments well and I just it was a dream come true as you can all imagine uh for me to talk to him it was a tremendous um I'm really excited to put this episode out there because Paul has such um a special place in my heart I mentioned to him I talk about the idea and there's this thing if if uh I know our our audience is largely American um and I appreciate I love my brothers and sisters to the South love the love y'all um there is a special kind of Pride when a Canadian would go across the border and do well down there in the states and there were two that uh were my my guys one was Wayne Gretzky the other one was Paul Shaffer and and and and I love how Canadian Paul was he even referenced in the Show how he uh uh was was you know Dave loved talking about the canadiana of Paul and I agree uh so the first thing I'm going to talk about is if you haven't read Paul's book uh we'll all be here for the rest of our lives um go get it go find a copy of it get a copy of it that pays Paul uh get a new copy of it um if you can um it's a really good book lots of very cool anecdotes and a lot of things you might not um you might not realize uh and and I just again I don't know if there's a musician on the planet that has collaborated more more with other musicians in as big a ways uh and as as big a ways as Paul Schaefer has uh I mean he's an icon um I'm gonna tell you this I know I'm not supposed to say this people who coach me on this stuff say oh yeah don't ever deprecate yourself about things you know let people make their own decision and that's fine I don't think I hit a home run on this one as an interviewer as as a guy I was I was fine up until he joined the conversation and the moment I saw him in the waiting room a wave of nervousness hit me I'm really grateful Dawn was on the podcast with me um to help me for part of it Don was on we played stump the band leader he had a couple of bumpers that we uh we didn't name it stump the band leader on the show that that came afterwards but this is what it is and and um but like I say I don't think I hit a home run with him uh as an interviewer I talked over him a couple of times and there's a there's a whole bunch of questions that are left on the table thankfully I did a good enough job where he said of course he would come back so we're really grateful for that um I can't wait for that uh I think the next time he and I have a conversation uh I'll be able to uh to create a lot more um in-depth stuff but I was just a little freaked out and it was a great learning experience it was awesome um just so grateful so so it's happy anniversary to the the Letterman podcast I've got two copies of the picture both signed by Dave ones up there that's the uh to Mike my best friend David Letterman this one is the hello Mike nice seat David Letterman and right there in that picture what is he doing he is turning and talking to Paul and saying Paul these Canadians are supposed to be polite these Canadians are just and you know I was being a bit of a brat and he called me out for and the rest of the audience is laughing their butts off about it um I thought that that moment was the end and it turns out it's the beginning in many many many respects and uh um yeah I I just the fact that I get to talk to Paul eight years later and I get to share it with everybody is uh on the one year anniversary of this show um man I'm really grateful I hope that there's enough content in there that people are entertained um and and given some of the insights that uh that folks that are part of this community really enjoy getting um I hope you like it a lot uh thank you very very much for all of the support so far in our first year um like Carson says hopefully uh not just more but much more to come we're working on some cool things and uh I could not thank everybody who has been part of this and uh enough every single guest that we've had on the show um Don Giller I cannot be more grateful for you um helping to keep you know my facts checked and and and and and all the other ways that you help um the people in the background who have uh um given me all of these insights into helping me be a better interviewer um whether it's technically or um you know even insights on the guests that I have coming up where I ask a question that that might not have been asked before and and what not y'all know who you are um thank you for that um I want to thank um you know everybody involved in worldwide pants we're not pushing the red button and saying hey cease and desist stop doing this I'm really grateful for that um hopefully we can um cross over more and I I would very very much like that um you know in my head I view this is my internship I know I'm a strange guy and I understand that uh but that's how I kind of view this it's like okay I'm interning I'm interning I'm fighting for a job of some sort and that job may not exist but it doesn't matter because it's so cool I believe that I had similar sentiments on episode one I haven't watched episode one it's a little bit uh hard for me to watch these some of these old episodes sometimes um but I still feel the same way a year later in fact I'm probably even more enthused if you can imagine that um more to come and I can't wait to see what else because on that night that night I never could have fathomed this uh the fact that our sponsor is the hello Deli the fact that before Rupert rides off into the sunset whoever buys the hello Deli um the fact is you know whether it sells a month from now or a year from now whenever he it sells um the fact that we could say the Letterman podcast is brought to you in part by our we have one sponsor and that's the hello daily go to hellodashdaily.com to get uh Letterman related David Letterman related merchandise um all right I could never have fathomed that that night that night felt like it was the Pinnacle and it turns out things have gotten bigger and better and bigger and better in so many ways and I just want to say um to people out there if there's something I don't know what you do for work I don't know what your what life looks like for you but if there's something that you've always wanted to do even if you could do it in a small way if you're a hockey player and and haven't played in years go join a beer league um if there's uh you know if there's a book you've always wanted to write just go write it no outcome necessary just just go write it the joy and the Fulfillment that you get from that will actually bleed into the other parts of your life and make the other parts of your life a little bit better if I could say that um it certainly has for me and uh on the year anniversary of the Letterman podcast I am so so proud to present uh Order of Canada recipient ladies and gentlemen um the hero to me um an icon in the music and in the entertainment he's a Showbiz icon ladies and gentlemen we give you Paul Shaffer okay so here's the thing we've got uh and here's where I'm gonna start where the people won't necessarily understand we have an order of Canada recipient here right now and I'm very excited about this Paul um Canadian I'm a Canadian too and there's there's there's a thing where and I don't know if this was your generation your generation and I love you personally your story how you love Showbiz growing up and all the things surrounding Showbiz and the Mystique and all that stuff you wanted to be in it um I can definitely relate to that being a Canadian from a small city um and and and and the pipeline of entertainment that comes from below the 49th parallel that comes up here uh encapsulates and and gets the imagination going that's probably part of where this show this show comes from um there was always a thing with us gen xers where we would cheer on a Canadian who made it big down south who would go to the states and do that I don't know if that was um in in uh something that happened with your generation or not but there were two Canadians that I always cheered more than anybody number one was Wayne Gretzky number two was Paul Shaffer uh very very exciting to talk to you today um still a Canadian to this day you you take part in uh you know Canada's Walk of Fame the the you know you perform with you know Vancouver Symphony Orchestra Winnipeg Symphony or you you still do a lot of stuff in Canada I just want to say thank you so much for being a proud Canadian down south having made it as big as you have um well it's you know I'm so proud of my Canadian Heritage and I think maybe that's you know I I was helped out by my old boss David Letterman who who used to encourage me you know and kid me about it in a good natured way but that shows the sense of humor you know that uh that we Canadians have because uh they got it and I the joke and they liked it they you know they could see that I was proud of my Heritage and you know maybe that has something to do with my getting that great honor the greatest non-military honor there is as you know in Canada absolutely and uh you know very cool uh you know Dave obviously recognized on a national level in the states uh you know the Kennedy Center Honors uh the Mark Twain award that sort of thing um you given Canada's highest um you know regard uh from a national level from a government level I think that's a really really cool thing this body of work that you were a part of um a major major part of uh do you reflect on it very often is Nostalgia something that is uh that's that's near and dear to you other than music of course and we'll talk about we're going to talk a lot about music today but like are you a nostalgic guy Paul I don't think that it's uh news to anybody that I sort of live in the past exist there and breathe only that air you know fail stale air give me some the stale air the cigarette smoke of 1967 and I'm a happy man um but of course I am and yeah I've got a little opportunity you know my schedule eased up a little bit since the old days yeah there's some time to to think about things things come back because at the time one is working so hard that you don't even you know you don't recognize what's going on yep and it comes back to me or it might be I might see a clip or something and say oh my I have no recollection of this that's happening a little more than I would have wanted it to can't you know this but but on the other hand lots of loss of amazing recollection but how could one remember every single show you know for all those 33 years a quite a privilege to to have been a part of it uh yeah a whirlwind uh without a doubt and I mean we're talking it's it's everything it's it's SNL um you know Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and then of course of course Letterman and and all of that stuff um I'm trying to think of a musician who might have collaborated with more musicians than you and I can't I can't come up with a name I I can't like even if you think about like Doc back in the day Doc and and the people that he would cross his path they didn't cross paths the same way that musicians crossed your path I I uh I don't know is has anybody collaborated with more than you I don't think so well certainly you know in rock and roll era I just came along at the right time and uh in Doc's day that big band was The Swinging this thing we heard you know and and he kept it going right as long as Johnny Carson kept going quite an accomplishment and really when you think Pat Connor he did play for everybody and we remember the time when he would um have a string section at the top of the show you'd hear the strings playing on the theme and say oh I wonder who he's got tonight and it would be Sinatra you know oh yep doc you know has expanded the band fantastic I grew up watching that up in the Frozen north of Thunder Bay and and certainly it was I'm sure I juggled the cat no that's okay um certainly it was um influential that you know it it sort of shaped me yeah I was then got in the position of maybe having to expand my band for some reason you know and then using the strings from the top of the show you know that those kind of things those little moves uh come back uh while we start I bored myself with you know with the answer I can't even remember the question yeah that means you played for everybody but uh you know I certainly remember you know Sarah Vaughan uh and when when Jimmy you know whenever you shot a scene his daughter played for Jimi Hendrix that time you know that was historic mashup uh you know one of the initial mashups of styles and you put them together and it's just this immune amazing new piece of art right so you had side Burns big mutton trucks you tried to be swing with the youth and made it all worthwhile and he did he kept up with Hendricks God bless him you know it's a last minute thing drummer didn't make it or something so um um I happen to be in the rock and roll era you know and just say hey uh when I concept of doing five shows a week came up you know gee that's hard you know I'm not going to certainly do original music or anything that's just too much writing what if I just do this stuff that I love the songs that I love you know the stuff of my youth the Soul music and stuff and then that reason I was going to do through Soul music yep and then I was influenced you know by some of the players that do uh add the Beatles and the stones and stuff um to it but there I was you know playing and then these artists would hear for the first time you know a house fan playing their stuff yeah I think a little bit happened you know especially when my idol James Brown okay he requested to come on you know I'll never forget it because we heard he heard us doing his stuff you know as as commercial property system and when we came on we when he came on and he was one of the early guys to do it we were just laying for him we knew you know we knew him yeah we had him down cold I want to ask a question about that because uh it's it's interesting that you bring that up um a bunch of the writers that I've I've talked to on this show have talked about uh the idea especially in the early late night days how you guys it was a whirlwind like you said the well the four shows a week and and and and just put your head down you're going to work you're doing all these things excuse me though five shows a week and a two on one of the days off right right of course um only at the beginning yeah and you had SNL so I mean you had context of something that had gone kind of and become a worldwide phenomenon by that point but a lot of these writers and these people didn't and they just put their head down and they went to work and suddenly they realized like um like we brought the idea of when you guys moved the show to California for a week and the lineup was all night outside the like like it was impacting culture like crazy you probably experienced that in a little bit of a different way when some of these really contemporary the hottest artists in the world were fans of the show and and wanting to come on like and James Brown being a prime example of that um a lot of people loved what you guys were doing early on were you aware of that or did it come as a surprise to you like it did for some of these writers yeah it certainly it's a surprise and maybe you know only really becoming aware of it now uh same thing with Saturday Night Live um my experience was and remember you know my I was there the very first show for the first five years and I don't think anybody really figured out you know that it was becoming uh even well known uh in some cases until it was over just so hard to keep doing it yep uh um and that was you know of course a bigger production to do live I still I never got over how how that got on the air um but then doing five of those show kind of shows not live it takes a lot of pressure off but um you can see why you wouldn't really realize I do have this recollection of early um uh on in the SNL history of Sunday brunch time in the village um I'm I'm married uh my wife Kathy but we were going together at the time just trying to date together you know Sunday brunch would often be a thing yeah and just to hear at the table people started talking you know about a sketch that was on last night uh first time you know that I became aware of that I started hearing it from you know on Sunday now now it's it's slowly internet explodes the next day with reviews and critiques of the show and Analysis I'm amazing I don't know they like to say you know Lauren Michael's like to say we've had the opportunity to sneak on the air because we were just Saturday night it was a dead time side it said we weren't being judged right away we yeah you know had some time to get ourselves together yep well sure wouldn't have been the case now no everything is instant um the instant uh the viral moment back then the viral moment was uh you know to to borrow the the well-used term it was a water cooler type thing or uh you know we're out the next day hey did you see this last night um much easier will and I talked about this too I and I I can't wait to get into talking about music with you will and I talked about this he said back then it was really it was a I said how did you keep up with everything there was a question I I gave to him all these different genres all these different things how did you keep up with all of that and he said back then it was a lot easier similar to the fact that there's three television networks back then and you could kind of uh you know take it all in where now there's you know thousands of stuff same thing with music You Know music was very regimented the the each company would put out certain things and you could kind of keep up with everything um whereas now the pipeline is so big it's like it's it's it's beyond a fire hose it's a geyser that's just of entertainment that's coming out um before we leave leave Saturday Night Live stuff uh I wanna I wanna ask you about Andy coffin I'm a huge huge Andy Kaufman fan um you have a very uh unique perspective on Andy uh as Andy the man himself you talk about it in your book and by the way folks if you haven't gotten Paul's book we'll be here for the rest of your lives get it um it's it's still available you can still it's still yeah please please please get it all of these Amazing Stories the Jerry Lewis stories all of the things that uh that he talks about in this book outside of Letterman never mind there's great Letterman stuff of course but Paul's book is fantastic but you talk about Andy a little bit in there I want to talk about Andy for a second because you saw the man himself the performance artist said it was Andy you were also one of the people who was famously uh fooled by Tony Clifton and and I am blown away by that the fact that you kind of knew Andy you saw him you saw the Mighty Mouse performance you were there for that uh you know and as Andy evolved yeah and then Tony performed and he got you well um maybe I was a little you know resentful because the idea of presented here was that uh Andy would do to shows two nights in a row you know yes on Letterman show two nights in a row first night as himself Andy Kaufman the conceptual comedian second night as it is Alter Ego character that he does Tony Clifton yes sir and Tony's gonna perform yeah uh with me in the band so the thing was though that when Andy got there he was all about you know when Tony gets here he's he's going to be you know he's very difficult to work with you better be on top of your game Tony Clifton gets you and I'm just saying you know don't I'll be able to work with Tony don't worry about it but I thought you remember that show Max Headroom uh of course absolutely shout out to Morgan like having to work with Max Headroom or something uh you know I was wanting to say Andy it's me but you know go ahead all right I'll play along you know sure so um but I'm confident you know Tony's going to do old Vegas [ __ ] and uh you know babe who are you dealing with exactly he comes in the next day all made up of course and and in costume and he's he's a character which immediately I can see that under this facade I I mean I'm not talking about that about that Andy's under there just in in the case of Tony this character seems to have multi-levels and he's kind of a sweetheart underneath this Vegas Persona I'm starting to like him and it occurred to me I really like working with him more than I liked working with Abby uh I guess only because uh you know I had in common with him I'm a nightclub performer too well I was working the clubs and you know yeah Toronto young street but same kind of thing I did relate to him he wasn't and he was a nuanced character and I enjoy the whole thing and I was of course right on top of his cues and stuff for him and uh and it was just a successful performance um you caught you stayed you stayed with him like every time he switched songs you were there right there with him and all of that stuff you know so yep and thank you for noticing whatever I'm sure that's what I was aiming to do so I always way later though that uh you know we had a manager named Bob zamuta yes a number of us knew him too because of Tony's multiple appearances you know manager would come with him and and then uh we started to hear even after Andy's death yeah Bob's Moto might appear somewhere handy and people the rumor was oh maybe Andy didn't die that was just his final stroke but it was really zamuta pretending to be Andy and in zamuta's book which was given to me by my lovely wife she knows me well obviously you'll give me Bob smooth his book but he said in there you know not only did I plan sometimes but sometimes I played Tony Clifton and and people thought it was Andy including the Letterman show and I'm reading this he says when I when we did the letter and show Andy did the first night and I came the second night as told and I said oh my goodness oh yes I had been duped I had worked with uh with samuda has Tony Cliffs uh the only other question I had about that was have you had you actually have you actually talked to Bob since then or did you just hear about the book and that was it yeah no I don't think so I don't run into them this is this is my Showbiz like like okay I I appreciate uh like I think about people like Morty or yourself or these people Tom Dreesen another good example who just the Showbiz of their youth and and and and I just um you are that to me like like and I don't know like okay is that something that um ever enters it enters your mind like knowing that you are kind of that guy to a whole generation of people if I'm you it's like to you I'm your Jerry Vale is that what you're trying to uh you're no you're you're oh gosh I I think you broke the mobile no I mean you'd have to combine you'd have to combine all of these different Legends together to get who you are because you're completely unique um but you are that like like your late show to me was my tonight my dad's tonight show you know it it simply was um I love that show so much uh we've actually danced around this a little bit here when you talk about Doc and how Doc would have strings and do different things with the theme I wanna I wanna dive into the theme if you if you wouldn't mind for a second here because I love Letterman's theme I love the evolution of Letterman's theme I love where it started I love the organs uh I want to talk about organs and rock music if if we have a chance as well uh I think it's it's it's one of the perfect instruments for a rock song If it's done right um the original organ theme and then how it evolved into what a theme song that docs Everson would be like yep I think that's like it's it's a Tonight Show level Fanfare theme with the horns and all of that stuff um was that a conscious thing for you did you marry those two things like yes I want to evolve the theme I want to make it bigger over the years oh yes and was uh I was assigned to do that really when when uh the Letterman show moved to CBS at 11 30 it was it was explained to me you know we've got to have a bigger band they didn't really specify how that was up to me but we ought to have it you know this is a big show we got to have a larger band and um we also um uh we've got to redo the theme uh which um I didn't know I'd have to redo it so many times because as you probably know it kept saying every time they changed the picture yeah you're trying to match the picture with the with the music and so you have to do another version another version but but that's you know that was the evolution of it we've got to make it you know bang more and when man when we went on the air at 11 30 there was this little bit of paranoia people are going to flip people are flipping we can hear them flipping over yep well you know and to all the other talk shows that were all coming up um and so everything you know uh it did get kind of specific we want everything uh it's tight you know explaining to me like that we don't want to relax Groove anymore is what they were saying and and they got that true to me so thanks and I was trying to um you know trying to give the people what they want and and readjust that thing uh but but as you also probably know I I readjusted it so many times that I eventually I kind of brought it back to the beginning the same feel as the beginning just with horns now yeah but I started when we first went on CBS I saw you know I started trying to have a funky you know really more of a funky Punchy you know yep that wasn't quite wasn't quite as good so the first opportunity I had they changed the Peter I went back to the shuffle as soon as I can but tried to make it more of a big band uh Punchy shot I uh I love that theme it's it's iconic to me and the Very like I I love the very very last incarnation of it I thought it I thought the theme Crescendo I really really did and I thought by the end of it uh where it started with the with the the synthesizer part at the beginning of it and then and then it would kick in um you know to the the little flurry before the Fanfare began like I I loved the last theme um I would always love when um when they would allow the credits to extend uh at the end of the show and we get to hear the theme more so at the end of the show and you get to hear some of the guitar solos and some riffing and things like that um I just I love what you guys did with it over the years and you did keep it fresh um yeah it's it's iconic to say the least and uh yeah it's just it's it's it's one of those things um can I talk to you about your wardrobe a little bit on the uh on The Late Show did you have a stylist or was this the the the the the inner Showbiz Paul coming out and whenever you'd see something slam buoyant out and about you would uh you'd you'd grab it your outfits your glasses all of that was amazing did you have a stylist that did that well first you know to ask you a question this was this predated the stylists uh I had no team either you know you've never heard me talking about my team we're not supposed to talk about the staff it took a while for me to even get a you know by the end of it I got a little bit of a wardrobe allowance yep and I got a board of allows for the band too um because they started wanting us to up our game a little bit Furious wise yeah when I started though you know Dave Letterman as you remember was wearing it those uh Adidas wrestling yep and uh the chinos I think those are Paul yep his trademark jacket and uh kind of Ivy League strike tie so you know we were also very casual yep uh that are bad some more than others we remember fondly the great Hiram Bullock and his uh t-shirts you know jazz festival t-shirt and no no shoes whatever sister bear feed and of course it was the kind of show where the camera would go right to Harris feet absolutely shout out to Hal gertner there yeah absolutely but then I just you know you don't know uh uh it was time to sort of where where you know ties and and jackets and I don't know I became a little more flamboyant yeah um with apologies to Doc of course who cornered that market but what can I say I know I have no more explanation for it than that but I will you know guilty as charged but it reminds me of another bizarre thing that I did in my career which was um in doing Saturday Night Live I um I left this show for the second season most most of the second season yep then Allen and went and did this bizarre show in Hollywood called the year at the top of about a rock band and it was not successful but nonetheless uh I was out there and I started wearing those white Elton John frames on the show I don't know they want I was going to wear a flashy glass first time I was going to wear like interesting glasses wardrobe mistress took me shopping and they said here's elton's next parrot because he's shopped out there too optic Boutique on Sunset and they showed me these white I said well are you kidding give me those yeah when I got my old job back on Saturday Night Live afterwards I continued wearing the glasses yep I don't know you know what a silly move really his trademark not mine I'm embarrassed to think about it now but it seemed to work for me as well I think the kids call that homage I think they call that homage these days Paul I think that's it that way in Vancouver but I know what you're saying uh they don't in cat in Canada it would say on March of course but man I guess that's what I was doing really uh truthfully yes it wasn't on Mars because I still love the hell out of yeah and his musicianship absolutely um James Brown obviously a pivotal moment um for you uh I mean moment after moment after moment you playing with these amazing artists uh sometimes a lot of the time the top song of the day you guys getting your chance to put your your spin on it um you know Bruce Springsteen obviously being you know a watershed moment uh on the last late night uh what were some other that come to mind right now just dream of Consciousness what are some of the moments that uh in late night some of these collaborations that you played in that were uh were special to you whether they were big or ones that were just personal and fun well um you know that the the thing about um sitting in with the with the house band was a sort of a new thing at that time I don't know you know who had done it beforehand but the concept of you know that comes from more of a jazz you know jazz band in a nightclub you know hey man you want to sit in you know um we started doing it uh with the house band it was interesting because you know you're not going to see all of it at home but the person's gonna sit in and play the whole night with with us the house man yep it was started not by suggested to us through the Chandra Burton was a town coordinator at the time and she came to me and she said I heard from John Halliwell the sax player of Supertramp well I knew super trap and I knew some of their music I certainly didn't know their personnel but she said he's the sax player and he thought you know what asked if he could sit here if the band and I thought fantastic so we did it with John Halliwell and as is my want you know I want to do all the different super traffic things that I knew that I liked you know uh but he was the first kind of suggested um and then a few other people did it but when Eric Clapton did it that's when really it kind of broke it open everyone saw that and then everybody wanted the city especially when I realized that if you sit in you know is very likely to have Dave Letterman hold up your products right at the top of the show not you don't even have to wait till the end uh then everybody wants it and that was early on that was July 29 1982 uh so that was that was really early on that Don just uh uh Sanborn BB King Grover Washington before Eric um you know these are some amazing names amazing artists that she could collaborate with uh Eric Clapton I love I love how you mentioned Eric Clapton there because uh you know again when you read your book you talk about the evolution of your relationship with Eric Clapton with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and all of that stuff but at the end of the day okay you had done SNL you had done these you know some you had some big moments when this happens with Eric Clapton from cream like like the again is is it do you have an existential crisis going holy cow I can't believe this is happening or are you using it by that point I'm absolutely aware of what you're saying and understand how big that you know that was his you know his Superstar statue yeah um but again you know it's something that I only kind of realize now as I look that is a very cool thing to realize now though that's very cool to look back on yes I said uh after the show we should have we gotta play some more is there a place we could go and play and just turn on turn the apps up and we immediately you know we got a rehearsal studio and went over there and jammed and there's a that was a quite a you know a notorious night when Stevie Ray Vaughan came by Next Door picked up a good you know a rented guitar blew us all the way and split but yeah absolutely that same night as Clapton had just done a show so yeah you know but I didn't realize it at the time because there was another show the very next night yeah quite a quite an experience to think about now at the time to watch them thinking about it just trying to accomplish it yeah oh perspective is such an interesting thing um man a rehearsal space like how many how many musical moments have you you've been a part of that nobody has seen except for you in that communal moment that special moment where musicians get that Synergy that just doesn't exist anywhere else it's that it's that uh Universal Harmony in a language other than speech uh how many moments have you had that nobody has seen like that is a crazy story right there Eric Clapton Stevie Ray Vaughan shows up and leaves we had a rehearsal space nobody sees that and you get to be a part of that you get to cherish that I just uh I appreciate the fact that you cherish it and you and you are aware of it that's really cool um yeah but you're you know certainly the part about how you don't appreciate it at the time you're moving so fast you know it's certainly true too I have plenty and funny to look back on wow I uh that happened oh sorry I don't mean to talk over you Paul I apologize for that that's my bad for talking over you there I was just filling in time go ahead um I have a couple of nobody knows you're doing this okay I haven't told anybody I haven't told Walter I haven't told I haven't told anybody that that you're doing this it's a surprise for the anniversary show uh but after I had will on um an author of I don't know if you've read uh last days of Letterman or not but it is an incredible book oh yeah yeah okay awesome awesome book and Scott Ryan's good friend of mine good friend of the show um and uh after I interviewed will he immediately uh sent me a video and he he precursed it by saying okay this is in case you ever get Paul on the show in case you ever get so this he has no idea this is happening uh I'm gonna play a really quick video if you don't mind okay hello Mr Schaefer it's uh honor to get to ask you a question I first of all want to thank you for giving me Decades of this emotion huh why is he playing this song that that I can see clerjan travel documentary clear sneaky so if you were just picking those songs to make the band laugh I want you to know it you were picking them for me because I always enjoyed that but that's not why we're here we're here to talk about me and the piano so in 1981 I got my first piano and you you know as a piano player you got to have that show-off song you want to have that thing because you only got like 20 seconds where the relatives are interested and I thought the most show-offy song was jump shout Boogie by Barry Manilow which I know you know but for uh the listeners who maybe don't know it's you know and I wanted to be able to play that so I worked on it and you know because it has that good catchy beginning and I added that that was my first improv so huh so I would always say you know that was a Barry Manilow song which I had no um problem admitting to now I do a letterman book last days of Letterman I cover all your beautiful music and I watch Dave for all these years you skipped through all of that I start collecting vinyl records and of course I'm gonna get Barry Manilow because I gotta have my jump shot Boogie I check the liner notes jump shot Boogie keyboards Paul Schaefer and by the way base will Lee what you got Dave's band in here but my question is who's playing you are Barry Manilow because all these years I've been saying I learned from Barry Manilow and I need to know is it Paul Schaefer so tell me are you the jump shot Boogeyman so how about it my goodness uh well no he's actually I mean only will knows that because he was there but yes I did play the piano on that that Boogie piano and it was a big deal at the time too because Barry who will work for uh on all the big records yeah and I uh you know joined in a little later I was it's just starting to get going and recording studios partly uh largely due to a various producer Ron Dante who um who produced all that I write the songs and everything prepared and started using me on second keyboard with Barry yeah and you know and we got along and it came to this boogie woogie thing Barry just said Paul you know you play the piano guys and everybody was kind of shocked that he moved over uh but uh yeah an early performance of mine on that um and this guy I don't know the backstory of where it will Lee bought that but he's wearing it the gentleman's wearing the old late night t-shirt isn't he so it was an early artifact um this is very cool and Scott is uh Scott's going to be delighted by that the fact that he actually learned that from you thinking it was Barry uh just as big of a a letterman Enthusiast as he is he a friend of will Liz or something you've got that video from will you or was I mistaken about that no I I don't think you know what it's funny Scott for the book didn't get any of the band he tried but he couldn't get any of the Bands so no we're making this connection here right now he's the author of the book that's Scott the author of the last days of Letterman yeah yeah yeah so I got it now now I got it that's amazing Lily wrote them I'm glad you asked that's my inferior uh uh introduction and broadcasting skills coming through right there so that's uh I'm glad I'm glad you clarified for the for the viewers um yeah well this is the one he quotes Bill chefs quite a bit Ryan and Barbara Gaines they're all it's it's it's an audio uh history so it's all the people who work like shecky's in there like a lot Barbara bill yeah absolutely um I've got to see it yeah it's such a good it's such a good book because again I want to go into the bumpers here I was going to use that as a way to going into the um not the bumpers but the intros uh that you would do for guests because that was some of the most clever version of music ever was was the inside jokes and things about uh the information I had to you know my Instagram we'll get to Bumpers too um but uh before yeah so so the idea of of of bringing out uh the different guests to something clever I mean at the end of the day were you guys just looking for excuses to learn new songs is that just a new like was that a a concept that evolved over time I I mean Late Show is where I really really noticed it but did you did you start that at late night as well well um here's the thing about late night that people don't even some huge fans of late night like Jimmy Kimmel who you know knows every episode and stuff but doesn't realize this that when I first started doing the show uh an 82.

yeah and it was so max so much I mean again the idea of we're gonna have to do this every day yeah um I just arbitrarily said you know what when the comics come out to myself I said would the comics come out let let me play them on with something they may be of their choice I used to ask them what do you want because they're coming out to work and do a set yeah in my mind when the other people come out I think you know this is so a cool late night thing it's on even after Johnny Carson it always appealed to me you know yep wow even later what if they just come out of Silence just to the Applause and that's for the entire 12 years I don't I never played anybody out and people don't even remember that yeah because because who knows what you know the mix is going to be often you just hear mostly Applause anyway anyway I know I people came out in South except for a Comedians and then I don't know once in a while somebody would think of a joke yeah maybe or somebody else you know on a on uh someone coming out wouldn't it be funny if we were playing such and such yep like I guess when Alan you know an early an early example might have been when Ellen DeGeneres came out I think we were still honored about her show I think we were still at NBC yep and I guess you know we weren't playing anybody out yet but I get yeah hard to resist playing I'm a girl watcher you know one of the Early times when we just played it because we had a little joke to me yeah but it was not until we hit that big time of CBS that I was officially requested play everybody out yep uh because we are now at 11 30 and so it turned out to be a lot you know a lot more to learn even though we really don't have to do eight bars of everything yep um and I gotta remember the name of this guy because it's so funny oh my goodness oh wow I won't mention it okay if it pops in grab it if it pops in later on just throw it out there Marv Albert Dreamweaver uh Martin Short kind of walk-on was uh valat um well you want comment something else comment on everybody oh oh there if there's a story behind them I mean we'll listen to oh gosh yeah yeah like I mean on the screen yeah goes to segment producer Maria Pope who was working now off for Jimmy Fallon yep just in the spirit of you know by now we were totally into doing play-ons and making little secret points and Maria was into it and Mark Albert had had a short of some unfavorable publicity whereby someone had pulled off his you know his head his hair really and said in the Press I pulled out this way yep and he said it's not a wig it's a weave Maria Pope said why don't when he comes out why don't you play dream weave and that was a no-brainer of course I'm gonna do that um that you mentioned uh Martin shorts oh yeah well that's only you know um we were on during the era of the MTV era yeah and there's a big video on MTV that John Lennon's Sons Julian Lennon yes song was called the lot it was kind of a an eerie ballad a little bit reminiscent of a Beatles thing yep and I don't know who said it first but Martin Short just appealed to me and he looks like Julian Lennon something about his face and his nose I don't know so I just started playing that a lot when he came out no other reason than that but I think what Giller may be referring to is that uh two and you know while we're playing Dave lean over to Marty why does he play this is that right doc yeah that's exactly what happened and Mario says uh he thinks I looked like Julian Lennon that's it so I think that's what he's referred there there was a walk-on appearance with Jerry Seinfeld where he he was no longer doing his stand-up on Late Night and he came on and he asked you why no walk on music and you explained on the air the the differentiating between walk-on guests and stand-ups oh how funny yeah um I I just wanted to pipe it in to say that we were really what do they call it full disclosure transparent at that time yeah big talent and this is free internet totally transparent I I just wanted I just want to chime in that that my my favorite walk-on music that you guys did and this was on Late Show was when Jillian Anderson uh guested and you would play the Jethro Tull version of box beret and and it was it was like three or four steps removed but you got it you know Ian Anderson Jillian Anderson that to me was genius I love that that's all I want to say here I'll disappear now um before the end of the show we've got a couple of uh of of bumpers that Don wants to identify uh if possible uh by the way Julian Lennon it's much too late for I love it's far too late good for goodbyes much too late for you guys I love that song oh my gosh uh growing up watching uh Samantha Taylor on video hits uh there's a little bit of Canadian and canadiana there um yeah I missed I missed her oh man Jesus yeah but but Julian Lennon growing up I uh I love that song uh very very cool um the one that I wanted to ask about was um Brian Williams who is one of my favorite guests of all time I loved him Terence Trent Darby wishing well do you know where that one came from directly from him ah there you go uh man he was yeah conscious of the plans I would do the washer and he just asked for that and I don't have any more explanation but from that point on that was just Pluto oh I love that I love that um the other thing you talked about Marv Albert and his unfortunate situation here uh I've asked a couple of the band mates about the show behind the show um and I and I I always loved the idea of that whenever whenever um either Hal or Jerry would cut over to you and you were talking in the microphone I might have only been Jerry might have been actually after Hal retired where he had the microphone where you guys could have your own little shindig going on in the background and making each other cut up and laugh and all that kind of stuff um I've asked about the show behind the show for a couple of the other band mates and the only thing that they'll talk about is the fact that you guys uh carried on the tradition of what happened in the Schaefer household growing up uh you know uh the idea of hairpiece Patrol uh looking at who's coming on and how you would be able to crack up the band uh with guests coming on oh yeah that's a hairpiece or oh that's a weaver oh that's this that's that what else would you guys talk about uh while the show was going on well the main thing in our in in my defense was that nothing to defend on it's hilarious secret microphone you know we were able to have it because all of us had to be ear monitors in our ears so here not only the dialogue and our own instruments and things but also each other and it enabled me to tell people what we were going to play next you know your monitors you know when we we were on the air before they just and when they when they came into style we started using it was a revelation because I was really having trouble on that CBS stage Sid McGinnis on guitar was way so over there that yeah I'm trying to you know I'm trying to say uh you know Otis Redding all this [ __ ] reading and you know it's in the middle of it show so that could be a problem but these things enable me Otis Redding you know key of B flat I could even be saying you know take these coins down E flat F D minor G minor I would do things like that you know yep yep that was the main thing but certainly I would say I might say um you know now when well who might have a toupee that we're taught you know we don't need to name names if we don't want to but I'm just saying when so-and-so comes out yeah you see the toupee don't lie I'd say to them don't laugh that's all we needed to hear and of course what do you you know what's so funny over there really nothing would catch me doing something like that and would say are you doing your own you seem to be doing your own show for Canadian and it was great um you know Tom uh bones was on the show and he talked about you know the idea of the ad-lib coming into money uh you know he had the better punch line than what or or the alternate punch line to that um I just added so much to it it was it was a it was a looseness you guys had gotten to the point where I mean again I only visited the show twice um you know right before uh right before the show ended then once back in 0-4 but again both experiences you go in there and it is a rock concert you're not just playing um you know you know uh eight bars of the beginning of a song you know before we go to Commercial and then commercial and then you you know come in with you know eight bars of a different part of the same song you know to play it out it's a rock concert in there it's a it's a you were live uh to tape but it felt like a live show um actually this is the question I meant to ask earlier obviously Saturday Night Live had a certain pressure to it um you know because it was actually live but you guys wanted to kind of was it that you guys wanted to replicate that kind of feeling which is why you were so tight in how you recorded the show came directly from Dave Letterman yep who uh who knew that it was important to simulate a live event ad that's why you know if the table is going to supposed to roll at 5 30 it rolls you know yeah you know I would in the early days can I have five you know we didn't even get to rehearse the ending and I have five minutes we're rolling and I'm rolling you got to get your suit on because we're rolling in six minutes yeah if you like is am I not used to it then it added to the experience you know whatever shape you're in whether you've been rehearsed or not you're gonna go on the air so it made it a little bit like it was live here yep uh one thing comes to mind or what I I must take credit for um when they were on in the morning I I didn't um wasn't on the morning show with Dave Letterman as he used to like to refer to you know early but I couldn't get up that early yet however they had a beautiful theme written by Michael McDonald yep um and they he made a recording of it I think I don't think he's saying any lyrics but he was just kind of coming along with that boy's voice of his and they used to play that at the beginning and then Segway into live band when Dave would come out and it will fully you don't you know you don't hear the I don't think you did you hear the transition yeah they kind of assumed I would do the same thing you know you'll record your theme of course and well play it and then you know Segway to live on Dave and I said I it doesn't make sense I said it just came off Saturday Night Live the whole thing was you know the band playing it live again the August the action live so I talked him into letting me do it that way and of course it was you know it set us up absolutely I don't know if any other show does what Dave does in this role uh because I had the privilege of guesting on a number of the other talk shows they seem to just go when they're damn ready yeah wow um something to be said for that too I well yeah I mean you know it's not a criticism it's just I think I think it is one of the things that made you guys great is is is that uh it's God Paul it's like you're a pro you're segwaying beautifully a few weeks ago you got a chance to be the house band on The Tonight Show uh when the roots was over working on the Grammy stuff um you got a chance to go uh and and bring um you know the the world's most dangerous band and actually be Fallon's uh Tonight Show band I was delighted by that I've watched it three or four times um I got goosebumps multiple times throughout it because you would play many of the same uh um you know standards late show standards that you had doing it how much fun was that to go back to 30 Rock and to and to do that almost Sharia yeah I bet but yeah and it's so nice of uh Jimmy to think of it and ask us to do it and wait you know I gotta say of the badge because some of the people came from worldwide you know will may have told you it had to come back from France where he spends a lot of time now with his uh his mother-in-law and um and Aaron hike was in I think the islands or something but everybody you know Frank green God knows her okay when Trump had came in from who knows where Malone from L.A yeah Felicia drove across town well she was up for you know she was Upstate Felicia and uh I'm not forgetting anybody because I didn't get a chance to mention everybody that night but it was so great that we really got everybody back together and Anton and Anton of course yeah yeah yeah uh synonymous with the show and everybody was there and it was like a reunion for us and yeah to pull out the old uh songs that we used to do was kind of part of the song I'm really glad that it was a good experience um Sid wasn't there that night notice that that's right I couldn't seem to get it and couldn't see me get him um I want to be very cognizant of your time do we have a do you have a couple more minutes for me here to bang through a couple things yeah I appreciate it Paul thank you thank you sir um obviously over time you know anytime someone's a music fan I'm a gigantic music fan and I mean um you know bands uh there's a unique chemistry and Synergy that comes into bands and and many times that that chemistry changes over time and you need to change around the ingredients to it that's happened obviously uh you know throughout the years in late night and late show um I think about the change in in Late Show with the horns um was that a was that a difficult change to make was that a was that something can you talk a little bit about that yes um um and first of all you know I I tried to do my first attempt was to do it without Lawrence yep you said everybody you know when they just said expanded band they didn't tell me you know you got to get a horn section yeah just expand the band and yeah another keyboardist too I was worried about getting horns because certainly at that time and it may not be true but but if you wanted to get guys who were excellent players in all ways chances were awfully good that they were going to be older guys who did not dig rock and roll who were condescending to play it I had a big problem finding the right guys and number two there isn't going to be time to write everything out and the you know these excellent players that I knew in the studio they're just used to there's an arranger and they you know things are right now well I always had time in many cases like a feature app and it was off almost always Tom Maloney would write out a beautiful arrangement for me but you know if it's just gonna be uh you know you know you got to just be able to play it and so it was uh I felt a little bit compromising of the freedom that I used to have but nonetheless you want to have that big sound and I tried to accomplish it with the great Bernie Worrell on the synthesizer yep and that's when I added Felicia um and um so I added those two people but it wasn't giving uh the pizzazz that you know an old-fashioned the other thing was confusing me was they was really asking me if I could kind of update my repertoire okay of the classic r b but let's you know can we not hear some stuff that's on the radio now well we didn't hear any horn section too in the early 90s to speak up so again I was confused about which way to go But ultimately you know Bernie Worrell was just an artist who moved on and continued to create no longer with us but what he was a genius uh but I kept Felicia after he moved on and yeah and I just went broke down got a horn section I could only afford two initially which is weird when you only have two you know because so many cars courts are so often free and there's a brief history I feel you um the horn section gag you know when Alan Bruce would put their hands up and all that that was I just loved the bands um I love the band's role in late show and I you you were characters you were characters whether it was the bits that they did with Anton whether it was and I mean obviously with you all the the different things that they would involve you in um you must have real got it you know you obviously had the acting bug the idea that uh you were considered for for the George Rule and Seinfeld a year at the top that kind of a thing you kind of got to have your cake and eat it too when it came to as much musical stuff as you ever wanted to collaborate with the biggest and the best but you also got to do a little bit of acting and performing in that regard as well uh do you miss that absolutely missing because it was kind of a perfect gig for me yes yeah but boy you know I certainly did it to death longer than anybody else has done it and with the greatest guy Dave Letterman you know who well I think all the guys working today I admit that they you know Dave influenced them all well not that Dave didn't have his influences too but uh well of course the greatest broadcaster the greatest body of broadcasting work in history that's that's what we talk about here uh we have a couple little uh Dawn's got a couple uh bumpers that he wants to identify and then I want to close out by talking about Warren zevonne if that's okay with you and uh that'll be it so I'm gonna play uh there's a video here uh that that we're gonna play hopefully it doesn't get uh censored off I think Walter will be fine with it um he wants to know this song here isn't Camptown Races um but it is it's like Camptown Races and so we're wondering uh uh what song is this we'll be back with Wilderness survivalist Tom Brown Jr any memory of that yeah I got it it's uh South Street this is a record from about 62 63 from Philadelphia there it is right there South Street being the name of uh you know a happening Street in Philly Philly PA you're one for one and yes it does sound a little like contrary yeah a little bit uh you're one for one want to go for two for two absolutely yeah it's pretty I've got an advantage obviously uh clearly I want to mention about Don Giller or the other thing you mentioned that other song but go ahead okay how's that no I can't I can't identify that one okay we're one for two perfect um and I got one more for the tiebreaker let's see if we can get this thing going uh okay that's easy everybody should know that oh Don don't you know that one I wish I did I'm embarrassed I can't recognize it it's Color My World by a Chicago Transit Authority from that you know their first double album before they became Chicago sung by Terry Catherine the Great group original guitarist I should know that and I don't and I thank you for that and also for the for the South Street uh that's been bugging me for years the pyramids record uh I would it just happened to come across something by when Hiram my first guitarist hyper bullet was a lie uh sometimes he would take show off and go to Japan and do gig or something and my his first major sub that would come in and replace him was a guy named Steve Carr sure interesting Jazz guitarist father was Sammy Pond the great Lyricist wrote Come Fly with me and all of us are ridiculous but he was a jazz his esoteric guitarist but he started out playing drums for the shantae's who did pipeline so he started as a surf drummer Steve calm Steve Khan the jazz player wow he changed his spelling of his name with K yeah ought to be like his father Sammy H yeah k-h-a-n yeah yeah he was a surf drummer with the shantae's and The Shanti the shantae's guitar players turned him on to Jazz and stuff so when he was in the band we got to play things like the pyramid he had a little bit of a surf repertoire among other things he knew the pyramids and the different bands like that you you would you would play both Pipeline and the pyramid song and and what always threw me was that they were uh I mean the pyramid song was two years after the shantae's uh but it was such a ripoff of it except for the melody but I think it was probably a day when Steve Pond was on guitar so we were going right now that first song the song that you couldn't identify uh I I I remember bugging you about that on on Twitter some years ago um uh it's a it was a friend of mine worked at the Library of Congress in the 90s and he sent me printouts of copyright copyrighted notices uh of songs that you had written Hiram had written Steve Jordan had written uh Paul is dead which was uh will Hiram and and uh and Steve I remember that one yeah right now and there was a song that Hiram had copyrighted this is in 1982.

um called before we close and and and it made sense to me that that's the song that you guys were performing yeah it sounds like it certainly is something we might do in that last commercial right because it's a slower thing it's it's a you know it's calm down maybe that was it um well you know what's named after um James Brown's first appearance on on Letterman we'll say it again I'm sorry that song his Hiram song before we close uh it was Riff that's his song because it was you also played it while during when Steve Khan would sub for Hiram again this is only an 82 when this happened uh uh he would play that song and I asked him about it and and he kept logs of of everything but he didn't have anything on that so he couldn't he didn't know nothing about Derek and the Dominos era yeah but Sid McGinnis knew he knew that era but but if it's before we closed I was going to say that we we musicians after we got to play with James Brown that first time we were on a a week-long high watching it on our VCRs every day memorizing not only the musical cues but the dialogue too Everything James said we it was kind of in our ears he talked in such a musical way well the hype the high point for me was when he when he scurried over to the organ and won the play and and sort of you know asked you to set aside and you were thrilled to have him do it you're so slim you could get squeeze uh but but he did a third we were doing we did two numbers that we had so semi and then he heard us doing a third and he wanted to do it he wanted to sing it spontaneously they just let him take over the show and and James said you know that I didn't do it now all of us could do it um before you close he said to the letter right right before you close so maybe that's it but that but I can't I I would love to get confirmation on that that that's the song something like a higher Melody yeah the same same thing with you and your song for herb that that was also in the uh in the Library of Congress copyright thing and uh and you had helped you had identified that for me on Twitter some years ago the song for herb can I bug you about about the 84 auditions guitar auditions yeah I mean when we I had various guitar players yeah now a week at a time and stuff when Hiram had left and Steve Khan had subbed for six weeks but he wasn't really interested in becoming the permanent chair right um and then Wadi Wachtel came in for a week but I I got the sense that he wasn't auditioning he was just there for the for the week and then and then the auditions began with with Jeff Lee who was passed away uh Buzzy fighting I only knew of yeah Buzzy feeding who I only knew of as being in the Butterfield band uh I think with David Sanborn I think um and and uh and Elliot Randall um and Sid was in Japan playing uh playing with the Lori and Laurie yeah Lori Anderson yeah um uh and I guess what I'm asking this is a question that's longer than the answer right I realized um did you reach out to these players or or did you send out word and these players contacted you and asked to audition you know I was reaching out certainly I think Jeff Lee for instance played on a jazz gig with Evan all right impressed me and I could see that he knew rock and roll too things like that plus your feet and I don't know how I got to him but I had been a fan of his since those Matt Butterfield records Ellie had played with honest in the studios all the time so I you know I asked him to do it well a thing like that everybody would have been different okay yeah as I said the answer is I was I was uh reaching out to people seeing if they might work one thing that's that Steve Connor told me that that he wasn't a singer and he wanted a singer certainly that helped yeah um all right yeah that was I was curious it was a very tough act too to follow right he was so good he was up there with Hendrix I mean you don't want to say he was as good but he wow getting up there that's a huge statement everybody would agree I think you're the guitar players buddy what he added that which was you know a musical knowledge training and and you know knowledge of jazz and stuff Hendricks could have played anything of course but I almost schooled me a trained musician too I I remember as a viewer I had never heard of this guy um and and I'm thinking what the hell is he playing you know how is he doing this uh it's just so out of step with everything else that was going on at the time and that's what made your band so revolutionary that's that's Yeah well yeah we may you know thank you for staying appreciate it that's it I'm done thank you thanks I appreciate that Don um Paul okay so I'm gonna ask at some point in the next year will you please come on I didn't get to Julie Roberts I didn't get to you hosting the show by the way that Julie Roberts that's my very favorite Paul Shaffer Moment by far uh you know the moment I'm talking about uh like one of the greatest uh was so good when you would bring in ad-libs like that did you ever get any heat for anything that you ever you said off the cuff I I can't imagine you did but I mean it was such an amazing moment uh where you asked her if she was getting lately if she's been laid lately um oh no I never got any it was it was all part of the show and so good well it wasn't live yeah well there you go that's true too yeah I suppose um you know you hosted played that up and you know got got additional laughs up out of it fantastic ad-lib um I could definitely I've got so many questions about uh about different things but I'm so grateful for this moment to to have to talk to you if you're up to me um you know this show obviously you know I've made no bones about talking about how there should be an official Letterman podcast I've you know been petitioning Walter and everybody that I wanna I wanna do this if it were up to me there'd be a sister podcast to this and I said this to Felician will and I think bones even too um there'd be a show called live on Letterman and it would it would literally only focus on the music of and I would love to talk to artists like one of my favorite bands in the world is a UK band called The Heavy I wouldn't know about the heavy if it wasn't for their two performances on your show and how they captivated Dave and he made them repeat play the song again I I loved moments like that um I can name so many artists that I have in my life that I love because of that and I I want to do an entire entire podcast called live at Letterman on on the music stuff thank you for your part in that thank you for all of the um I say this to the writers all the time I'm going to say it to you a bunch of the gray matter Pathways in my brain have been created because of you guys um do you uh do you still try and you know do you still listen to a lot of new music uh certainly but I tend to go back to the same 10 records you know that I've been listening since I was a kid and still hear a new things in Jailhouse Rock oh that piano I never heard that before you know I'm still listening to the same song I gotcha um what's your if I was to name it your favorite rock song like like rock song that has an organ predominantly in it what's your favorite one I don't know I mean that's I think um when Deep Purple did um hush um you know stuff in the zombies she's not there yeah okay these are the ones I thought can I try and give you uh one that you made it have never heard of yeah of course okay do you remember the band Faith No More yes okay Faith No More had a b side it was only released I think on a on on a live album that came out uh in the UK I don't even think I think it was an import uh but it was called the cowboy song I'll email it to you it's it's a b side and it it has a really awesome organ part that I think I think you'll love it I think you'll really it's a rock song with an organ we know that they have a keyboard player who plays Roddy bottom was there is is there a keyboard player and he is incredible um yeah awesome okay so uh I want to finish off with Warren Zevon and and and forever for a whole bunch of reasons um I say Enjoy Every Sandwich uh still to this day Rupert and I go back and forth and enjoy and by the hello deli's for sale talk about Enjoy Every Sandwich oh my gosh let's slow in on it yeah bye you and I buy it what's that supposed to go in on it you and I yeah oh there you go let's do it let's buy the hello oh my gosh right I'm in I'm in I'll learn how to make a sandwich uh and the Paul Shaffer is the best sandwich on the menu by the way um the uh but but Warren zevonne hopefully this year going into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame I mean I could have we could have done an entire podcast on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and all this stuff Paul you're such a Legend um I just want to talk a little bit about Warren Zevon what he meant to the band you would go off for uh you know holidays uh religious holidays or or if you were you were away warns yellow zevonne would come in um I learned about Warren Zevon because of you guys and and I I'm gonna say this as delicately as I can I'm a gen xer Bob Dylan to me is a little bit different than Bob Dylan is to my dad um if I were to compare who a Bob Dylan type character is to me it'd be Warren Zevon and that's because of you guys I adore him I love him um Kevin Smith was gonna make a movie about hit somebody around hit somebody at one point I hope that still happens um how cool would it be if Warren Zevon went into the Hall of Fame this year well of course you should be in uh uh so influential that so many people cut his songs and you know refer to him as a great poet where she was an interesting guy and and Dave Letterman was the first guy who really was hip to him you know even he had his uh excitable boy out and stuff were wolves but Dave was into his albums and things and we started having him on as a guest yeah and then it was uh I had to take two weeks off which was kind of unprecedented we didn't take much time off if we could help him but uh I was gonna get to be in The Blues Brothers movie sequel and I had to go and and shoot it for two weeks they looked everything the same you know so I was trying to figure out who am I going to get for two whole weeks and it was our talent uh coordinator at the time with Sheila Rogers was suggested what about Warren oh my goodness the one guy that Dave would be happy to look at it see you know if I wasn't going to be there so one was able to do it he started doing covers like we always do we came in with various things written out like a Spice Girls arrangement written uh on school paper if you want what you know uh anyway that's another story we work faster than that yeah you know I'd like to hear Warren's songs when he doesn't so when he would do it it would be all his songs yeah absolutely for bumpers playoffs everything uh nice of him to be able to do it and certainly that last show what can you say that was real television he did he sang three songs yeah which is hard on anybody to reversely and then do them right away at the hair show but he you know this man was absolutely dying and it was amazing Bruce Kaplan oh go ahead there John Bruce kapler told me that that uh he he had tears coming to he he was wearing sunglasses and uh I think the song was genius uh yeah yeah and and Bruce could could barely read the charts because he had tears coming down I was going to say that uh did you know that Warren was scheduled to be the first to beat Warren was scheduled to be on the first late night the very first and but he was bumped because there was there there was there wasn't enough time there was there was so much stuff I mean he he was listed in the TV Guide as being as as being scheduled uh by the Friday before the first show he wasn't listed so it was determined at some point before the show that there was no room for him to to come on I was not aware of that it was certainly the time when you know it it I'd like today every show did not necessarily end with a musical guest yeah yeah no music at all for a couple weeks in a row and then gradually you know once in a while a musician would come on it would be a visible estimate eventually evolved into the way it is now that's a whole episode whole different episode so many yeah I mean like dream guests for this show uh you know Dave Grohl Eddie Vedder some of the some of the people who have uh had had massive attachments to um to the production I just uh Paul I appreciate you so much you know I got to tell you this um one of the one of the themes like the theme for this uh we got a little uh a little uh You Know parody version almost of of of the first few bars of uh of the theme is what is the theme to this show it was almost going to be do you remember the Fanfare you guys used to do just that that was originally going to be the theme to this show um those those little fanfares that you guys played uh like again seared into my brain I I can't tell you how much of a pleasure it is to talk to you um I hope I can get you back at some point um and I'll be a little less freaked out and I can I can get to some more deep cut stuff um but I have to tell you uh well on behalf of me but on behalf of all of the enthusiasts and there are so many you guys are like I mean I don't know fish The Grateful Dead when it comes to late night talk shows I mean you guys are a cult classic uh my Tonight Show um and and I know none of you like to take compliments so so you know I thought maybe you might be the exception Paul I worship you guys you guys are absolutely um the fabric of of who I am when it comes to entertainment so now you're embarrassing me okay yeah I just want to say can I quote you the fact you know we were the fish of late night television yes I'm right you can thank you uh it's been fun Mike and uh Don Geller that was you know hilarious this explains everything and yet there's so much more now um thank you very much Paul I appreciate this so much I'll uh hit stop now we can say our goodbye privately uh Paul Shaffer ladies and gentlemen okay how awesome was that I mean come on uh yeah I mean I don't know if I have much more to say from that other than um uh oh I didn't announce in the in the intro uh we got a website now you can go to lettermanpodcast.com or the lettermenpodcast.com we got both um and I'll tell you this there's a guy who uh this everything that's happened for us has been like we have no budget for the show we've got no this is this show was built on love and collaboration really is what it is um so somebody came forward and and said hey we want to build you a website and uh his name is Joel day I'm gonna I'm gonna be throwing out his contact info um because he built this website for us and it's pretty Skookum and it's just starting right now so so we're very excited about that so you can go to lettermanpodcast.com for more information about the show um and and and of course we've got our Facebook group so it's nice on the anniversary day to be able to announce that we'll talk more to come on that more to come on Joel uh I mean Joel built this website for us without even being in the same room with me so uh if you need a website uh here's a guy here who can is extremely talented um so I'll throw his name out there thank you very very much for that you can go to lettermanpodcast.com again check the uh the socials get into the uh Letterman podcast group on Facebook if you want one of the letter The Late Show rejection postcards um that's been our first year that's been the first year of the Lettermen podcast with Mike Chisholm coincidentally I am Mike Chisholm thank you and good night overcoat and Underpants